It was a quiet overcast dawn on our small, secluded island on our small, secluded planet. My Master and I were just settling into our small, secluded gazebo for our first meditation session of the day when I heard a noise. I registered it and went back to my breathing, as I had done a million times before. I heard it again, closer this time. My thought this time was, “That sounds like gunfire.”
The gunfire quickly escalated, and my master was also aroused. An old man, he usually moved quite slowly, feeling every part of his body move and work. Now, it moved and worked with alarming speed and accuracy. We left the shelter of the gazebo and small stand of trees and moved closer to the main building. Coming closer was a blond women running hard. Behind her and firing were three soldiers with rather large guns. She was slowly pulling away, but tiring. She had been hit in the shoulder, but it didn’t look fatal.
She was soon upon us, and quickly said, “You had better get out of they way, they are murderous now.” She had an amused gleam in her eye! I was shocked.
My master was not. “This is no game, child. You could lose your life, or take someone else’s. Life is precious, the only thing worth anything in this universe.”
His words, or perhaps his power, had an immediate effect on the bleeding girl. “Of course. I’m sorry. These omni scum don’t think that though, so be careful. I had better run.” She started to move off.
“Wait, we shall help you.” my master said, “Go around the building and hide for a moment; rest and tend to your wound. Let me talk to them.” She paused, then nodded. We turned to the oncoming soldiers as she disappeared around the corner.
My master raised his hand, and they slowed. He never ceased to amaze me. “Welcome to our Monastery.” My master said quietly, then bowed, and I followed suit. Looking back up, he then said, “This place is sacred. I will have to ask you to cease your firing immediately.”
The soldiers looked at each other, confused. One stepped forward. “We are following a criminal. We must apprehend her, or kill her.”
“The blond child? A criminal?” Master sounded shocked, but I knew he was sad to hear the news. “What is her crime?”
“That is Omni-Tek Business. Out of the way, old man.” The leader signaled to the others. They had dismissed us, which was a mistake. Not the only, but probably their biggest.
The soldiers started to move around us to the corner where the girl had disappeared. My master signaled to me, silently, and quickly I moved behind him. I went into the main building and to the door on the other side, where, if I hurried, I could get to the girl first. I heard the soldiers moving nearer to the corner, then my master spoke once more. “Please, she will not go quietly. Do not shed blood here. Let me try to persuade her.”
The soldiers laughed, but they had stopped walking. I heard the leaders voice again. “Old man, she is a Mocker. She will never surrender, no matter what you say to her. Now be quiet and let us do our job.”
I was almost to the door when I heard the first blow. I could tell my master had knocked one unconscious by the thud that followed. I opened the door and slipped out, whispering orders to the girl. She nodded and fell in behind me.
There was a gunshot, and another. Then a soldier came around the corner ahead of us. I leapt at him and knocked him flat, the adrenaline rushing through my body. He tried to grab me, but I twisted free as a shot rang out from behind me. The girl had put a bullet neatly into his chest.
“I said no guns! Fool! Now you are as bad as them.” I was disgusted, and moved to find out how my master was getting along with the third and final soldier. I rounded the corner and stopped at the point of a gun.
“Hold it right there sister. Where is the girl? Don’t make me kill you too.” Realization slowly dawned on me as I took in the scene. My body reacted before my mind could fully comprehend. I quickly disarmed him, to his surprised dismay. I realized I was screaming at him, and he cowered and tried to get away from the gun I was brandishing at him. He stumbled and fell. I wondered why he didn’t get back up, until I saw the blood spread across his side, starting to pool on the ground. I looked down, and the gun in my hand was still smoking. I quickly dropped it, continuing to stare at it.
The girl brushed past me to the third soldier, who hadn’t moved since my master dropped him. I followed her movements as she bound his hands and feet. Then I see the body…
I tried to rush over, but the girl stopped me. “There’s nothing you can do. Two shots, one in the brain and one in the heart. He’s gone.”
“No, I can fix it, I know I can, just let me go, please, I have to help him.” I continued to babble until I couldn’t get the words out between the sobs.
The girl was shaking me. I don’t know how long I was sobbing onto her shoulder. “Girl, I have to go. There are more out there. My ship will be waiting for me, but not for long. “
“Where are you going?” I asked, wiping my face.
“Back home for the payoff. Who knows where I will end up after that?” She stood up and closed her bag, then slung it over her shoulder and adjusted her gun. “What about you, kid? Is there somewhere for you to go?”
I looked at her and shook my head. “My parents died in a crash when I was little. My uncle took me in here, and now…” I bit my lip to keep from crying again. “I have to bury him. Then I want to go with you. You have to tell me who these people were.”
“Go with me? I don’t think so. Look, I’ll help you bury him and I can give you a lift somewhere, but you don’t want to go where I’m going. It’s… different.”
“Look, we don’t have time to argue if there are really more out there. We have to get out of here. I’ll get the tools and incense. I’ll hurry, it won’t take long if we work together. I’m Tiffany.”
“Jasmine, but I’m called Jasziak.”
And here I am on Rubi-Ka. It took some convincing, but I think Jasziak felt sorry for me. She finally agreed to tell me about Omni-Tek and why they were following her. But that’s another story… As for me, I took an oath my master told me never to take for someone, but he didn’t realize it would be for him. I swore I would strive my entire life to stop Omni-Tek, to take their power as they had taken my master’s.
